There is a refrain that I hear often on gaming sites: “turn-based combat in RPGs is dead.”  As anyone who has been paying attention knows, it is a favorite hobby of games journalists and bloggers to proclaim the death of this, that, or the other.  For instance, adventure gaming has been declared dead on more occasions than I can count, and yet seems to be enjoying quite a resurgence at the moment; episodic Monkey Island games, some fantastic-looking titles like Machinarium, and a host of others are popping up for download on a weekly basis.

So why the eulogies for turn-based (TB) combat?  The general consensus seems to be that TB combat is simply too boring in this new world of HD graphics and multiplayer FPSes. People want speed and twitch gaming, the writers say, and turn-based is just too slow and old-fashioned to keep people interested.

This is a pretty shallow way of thinking, I’d argue.  Yes, turn-based combat is by definition slower than real-time, but that does not automatically make it boring.  Boredom is in the eye of the beholder, and for those used to speed and action, turn-based systems must feel like a long walk through a muddy swamp.  But depth and choice can be exciting, and TB systems can usually offer those in spades.

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My parents were nice enough to let me own video game systems when I was younger, but the trick of the matter was that if I wanted a new game, I pretty much had to buy it myself.  Outside of very rarely getting a game at Christmas or my birthday, any time I wanted a game I had to save up birthday money, chore money, allowance, anything really, and choose carefully what I wanted to purchase.  This, as you might imagine, made me pretty choosy when it came to selecting games; if it was going to take weeks and weeks of saving to be able to afford one, I wanted to make damn sure I was going to get my money’s worth out of it.

For some titles, the choice was easy; A Link to the Past or Final Fantasy III were no-brainers, and my spending was richly rewarded.  Others, like Zombies At My Neighbors or Uniracers, were less familiar, but ultimately proved to be wise decisions.

And then there was Lagoon.

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Star Guard is a clever little run-and-gun platformer painted in Spectrum hues that oozes atmosphere. By the time I reached the end, it wasn’t just another boss encounter (as in say, Don’t Look Back). I felt like I was battling Satan himself. One point against it: why, if it was built in Flsh, do I have to download it?

nb: Hit the tab key on the title screen to enable hard mode.

Welcome back, food critics and food lovers alike, to our hallowed Kitchen Stadium.  As you well know, we’ve come to the final portion of our program, tasting and judgment.  The Iron Chef has already wowed the chairman and his guests with his five-course meal, and now it’s time for our challenger, Bethesda, to see if he can compete.  The challenger has informed us that he’ll be serving five courses of Wet today, so we’ll see if he can impress us with his culinary prowess.

So without further ado, bon appetit!

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